Micheal Gyato (left) presenting keys of the bus to the headmaster, Vincent Korsi Atiku
Deputy Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Michael Gyato, has gone to the rescue of students of the Yabram Senior High School (SHS), built by ex-President John Dramani Mahama, under his 200 Community Day SHSs project.
The deputy minister has donated a bus to help convey students to and from the school after realizing challenges the students faced.
They reportedly walked several kilometers from home to school and back daily.
The school, situated at Yabram, a farming community near Dambai in the Krachi East District of the Volta Region, is said to be nine kilometers from Dambai where majority of the students are believed to be living.
DAILY GUIDE understands that students walk at least five hours to and from the school each day. Because of this and other daunting challenges, about 90% of students placed in the school from outside the region were refused admission last academic year.
Reports indicate that there are no commuter vehicles in the area and that some farmers who ply the route often offer the students rides on trucks, motorbikes and tricycles.
The situation gets worse when it rains.
It is believed that certain key factors were not considered before the siting of the school, hence its remoteness.
For those who cannot afford to walk such a long distance daily, their only option is to rent rooms close to the school.
Boarding
In an address at a short ceremony to hand over the bus to the school authorities, Mr Gyato urged the government and the ministry of education to consider the provision of a boarding facility to alleviate the plight of the students.
Mr. Gyato claimed, “I’m also reliably informed that most of the students here are not from this community. Accommodation for them is a serious challenge. This reinforces my position for the conversion of this school to a boarding one,” he said.
He said the ministry of education was in the process of procuring vehicles for schools across the country and he hoped the peculiar situation of Yabram Community Day Senior High School would enable it to get an additional bus.
Headmaster of the school, Vincent Korsi Atiku, said the bus would be of immense help to both students and teachers.
He added that the school would need at least three buses to be able to convey all students to and from school.
He was thankful to Mr. Gyato for taking keen interest in the school and helping to solve a number of challenges.
Mr. Atiku said the school has the capacity to admit more than 1,500 students, but it has only 501 students because some of them reject being placed there.
“In the 2017/2018 academic year, 510 students were posted from seven regions, excluding the Volta Region. Only 54 out of the 510 students reported, and out of that number, nine students reported, went away and have since not returned,” Mr Atiku said.
By Melvin Tarlue